Blackout After Dark (Gansett Island #21) - Marie Force Page 0,28

if he’s not coming in to see the kids.” She bent to accept hugs and kisses from Thomas and Hailey. “Thanks for all you’re doing, Kelsey. You’re the best.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Saunders. This is the most fun job I’ve ever had.”

“We’re hoping she still says that when there’re five of them,” Mac said.

“I will be!” Kelsey said with her usual too-good-to-be-true enthusiasm. “I think I hear Mac waking up from his nap. Who wants to help me get him up?”

“Me!” Thomas and Hailey said as one.

“When I ask them that, they don’t even answer,” Maddie said when the three of them had gone upstairs to get baby Mac. She looked up at her mom. “Thanks again for the visit and the dinner.”

Francine kissed her daughter’s forehead. “Hang in there, honey. This too shall pass.”

“I’ve got to go, too,” Mac said. “I’m meeting my dad in fifteen minutes. You need anything before I go?”

“No, I’m good,” Maddie said with a sigh. She was bored out of her mind but would never tell him that when he was so busy running two businesses.

“I’ll be back in plenty of time to help you get ready for the party, and we’ll have some good fun with everyone.”

“That’ll be nice.”

He kissed her and tucked her hair behind her ear. “We’re in the home stretch, sweetheart. Almost to the finish line.”

“Keep reminding me.”

“Any time you need to hear it.” He kissed her again, got up and went upstairs to give the kids some love before he left, promising to be back in a couple of hours.

Maddie watched him go, envious of his ability to move around freely while she was forced to do nothing at home. She laid her hand over her belly, which was alive with activity at all times from two babies who never seemed to rest. “You girls are going to be holy terrors, aren’t you?”

Putting her head back on a pillow, she once again counted her many blessings, which included the twin girls who would soon take over their lives.

As Mac drove away from the house, he was worried about Maddie and how low she seemed as life swirled around her while she couldn’t do anything other than use the bathroom and take a quick shower every day. The poor girl was stretched to the limit of her patience with sitting still, even if she understood it was necessary to protect herself and the babies. Bed rest sucked. No way around it, especially with three other kiddos underfoot.

Thank God for Kelsey, who’d been a lifesaver this summer. Hiring her had been the best thing they’d ever done, and he was hoping they could convince her to stay for the winter to help out after the twins arrived. He worked like a madman so his family could have what they needed. Right now, they needed Kelsey.

Not to mention, Thomas, Hailey and Mac adored her, which was a bonus.

Mac drove to the island’s northwest corner and pulled into a dirt driveway that took him on a winding path to what had once been an alpaca farm. The place was in shambles, with the roof crumbling, rusted farm equipment scattered about the property and a general aura of neglect clinging to the buildings.

But the potential… That was all he could see after stumbling onto the property the previous winter while out plowing snow. He couldn’t get the idea out of his mind, and he’d learned to run with things that interested him as much as this place did.

Big Mac arrived a few minutes later, parking his pickup next to Mac’s and greeting his son with the usual big smile, as if they hadn’t seen each other in days rather than hours.

“Haven’t been out here in years,” Big Mac said. “Remember coming for the petting zoo the Conways used to do around Halloween every year?”

“I remember.”

With his hands on his hips, Big Mac took a look around. “It’s fallen on hard times since they died.”

“That it has.”

“What’re we doing here, son?”

“I’m having a thought…”

Big Mac propped aviator sunglasses on top of his wiry gray hair. “What thought is that?”

“Take a walk with me.” Mac led his father through the split-rail fence that was mostly rotted and covered in a thick layer of moss. The grass hadn’t been mowed in years and had become a meadow of wildflowers and weeds that led straight down to the water’s edge. A gigantic barn made of stone and wood was covered with colorful ivy, and the pervasive stink of alpaca